All Forum Posts by: Richard Martin

Peter: Here is an idea for you. Salinas is only 1 hour south. Buy a home down there. You will find many areas in 93906 very nice. Buy it with FHA @ 3.5% down, yes you need to live in it. Do the commute for a year then move back to SJ and put a renter into it. You can buy a lot of homes down there that you will like for $200k to $250k that will rent for $1600 to $1900.

@J.Scott- I have a brokers license in both AZ and CA. My extra costs are minimal. I don't have any paperwork issues. But I am a one man shop. If you hang your license with your wife's brokerage that may change. I saw the brokers license as just some more classes and a more difficult test so why not. I have no split or extra transaction costs.

btw- I appreciate all your wise and reasoned advise. When I see your name I look to see what you have written. Thanks.

Adam: I would look real hard at opportunities in your back yard. I bought my properties in CA. But then I moved. I found a Property Manager that is probably the best in the area but I am uneasy not being in control, not being able to due my own quarterly inspections. Is he as motivated to get the units rented as I am, no.

I agree with Aaron. If you run into the cons he explained you can often refer the the transaction to a colleague and get 25%+ referral or team up with one for a higher split.

On another blog the author did an analysis of this question. It's a long report but I think this summarizes it.
Using a statistical analysis the results are the following:

Zillow’s Average Percent Error: 6.14%
Study Accuracy: +/- 0.86%
Median: 6.70%
Standard Deviation: 8.45%
As evident by first glance (plus the large standard deviation) the only clear trend is that Zillow generally underestimates the value of the home. For this study homes below $160,000 tended to not exhibit large swings in percent error when compared to their actual sales price. Beyond this value a specific home may be undervalued by 25% or overvalued by 15%. Overall 77% of the homes were undervalued. This is good news for buyers when they convince sellers that Zillow is an accurate representation of their home’s value. In other scenarios they may lose out on the house of their dreams by insulting the home owner with a low ball offer.

So IF he is correct you can use Zillow to your negating advantage. His point is that Zillow is low. Good luck.

Tyler;

Sell it.

Be sure to follow Anthony's advise about the 1031 Exchange otherwise you will have a huge tax hit.

Grace;

Sharad has given you great advise. As a Broker in both Arizona and California I support what he says. Buying property will be the easy part. Finding a reputable Property Manager will be your key to success. The PM will likely know of a Realtor and have the team in place to take care of any issue that comes up.

It sounds like you are developing a good plan. I suggest that you take your time and find your US based team. Though in Phoenix we are seeing prices rise I believe there is still plenty of time for you to act.

Cheers,
Richard

Your Title Co should be able to find and use a mobile Notary that will take the docs to the clients have them properly signed and returned. I think the last time I had this done it cost $75. It adds some time but if planned shouldn't be a problem.

Bienes; Seems to me you are over thinking this. I suggest you just answer their question. They have not been in place long enough to warrant any special considerations.

Hi David;

If you are asking your agent to put your rental on the MLS and give you the various forms I know I wouldn't charge my clients anything. I would assume your phone number is the contact number, you are going to meet and quailify possible tenants.

Of course asking your agent to do more would be something I would expect to be paid for.